COLUMN: Stakes are high as Blue Devils, Deacons renew rivalry

If last week’s top 10 showdown between Florida State and Clemson was the ACC’s version of a Presidential debate, then today’s game between Duke and Wake Forest is more like a town hall forum featuring two local school board candidates.

If last week’s top 10 showdown between Florida State and Clemson was the ACC’s version of a Presidential debate, then today’s game between Duke and Wake Forest is more like a town hall forum featuring two local school board candidates.

It’s not the kind of event that will attract much national attention, if any at all. But that doesn’t make it any less important to those involved.

In terms of tangible reward, there may actually be more at stake at BB&T Field when the Deacons and Blue Devils renew a rivalry that was first played in 1889 than there was in Tallahassee when the ACC’s top teams squared off in a battle for national prominence.

While the Seminoles and Tigers are both still in position to win the ACC championship and play in a BCS bowl, even after FSU’s 49-37 victory, the margin for error is significantly slimmer for those at the opposite end of the postseason spectrum.

With all due respect to Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who asserted before the season that he considers all his team’s games “winnable,” the team that comes out on top Saturday will stand a realistic shot at becoming bowl eligible while there’s a good chance the loser will likely be out of luck.

“I’ve talked to some of our captains and seniors about that very thing,” said Cutcliffe, whose team is looking to end the nation’s longest bowl drought at 17 years. “You’re not going to fool kids. It’s on their mind. But I think this team has got a lot of people that’s played a lot of football. So you don’t get there unless you win the next one, whatever the next one is.”

In this case, the “next one” only happens to be the most pivotal game on both teams’ schedules.

Because while it might appear as though Cutcliffe’s Blue Devils and coach Jim Grobe’s Deacons are in good shape at 3-1, halfway to the six wins they need to qualify for the postseason with more than half the season left to play, their remaining opportunities aren’t as plentiful as it might seem.

That’s especially true for Duke. Take away uphill battles against Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech – the latter three on the road – and there are realistically three games left for the Blue Devils to get to their magic number.

A loss Saturday would mean they would have to beat Virginia next week, rival North Carolina on Oct. 20 and Miami in the season-finale on Nov. 24 to go bowling for the first time since 1994. With a win, only two of the three would be necessary.

The Deacons’ situation is only slightly less daunting with tossup games against Maryland, Virginia, Boston College and N.C. State, to go along with more difficult tests against Clemson, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.

Page 2 of 2 - Complicating matters is that, unlike Duke, Wake won’t just be faced with the temptation of looking ahead. It will also have to fight the urge to look in the rear view mirror at the 12-game winning streak it has built against its in-state foe.

“We don’t really look at streaks that much, it’s year-to-year,” Grobe said. “We know they’re a really good football team and that we’ll have to play our very best football to beat them. That’s the bottom line.”

The Deacons have always seemed to save their best for the Blue Devils in recent years. They’ve also benefited from a little good fortune, having won the last six meetings by a combined 27 points – or an average of just 4.5 per game.

“Certainly this game has been very competitive in our world,” Cutcliffe said.

Given the similarities between the teams through the first four games of this season, there’s no reason to believe Saturday’s meeting will be any different.

Only the stakes will be higher than usual.

ACC Insider Brett Friedlander can be reached at starnewsacc@gmail.com.